Finals Week Preparation Guide

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1 Finals Week Preparation GuideLike it or not, final exams are just around the corner. It’s never to early to start studying! How prepared will you be? Use these tips to help ease the pain that finals week can bring.

2 Start early. Preparation for finals begins even BEFORE the actual week of final exams. You cannot cram an entire semester's worth of information into one or two nights of studying. Get started long before the Monday of finals week.Think of finals week as finals weeks.Sleep. You need at least four hours of sleep a night to function. College finals are designed to make you think. If you are sleep deprived, you won't be able to comprehend (or answer) the challenging questions you will face.

3 Determine what type of final you will be takingDetermine what type of final you will be taking. A non-comprehensive final will cover all the information given/discussed after the last exam. Comprehensive finals cover all of the information covered from day one of the class. Determining which type of final you will be taking could make a huge difference in the time you'll need to commit to studying for a particular final.Focus on your notes. If you are 23 chapters behind in your reading for a class, don't spend the night before the final trying to read the material for the first time. Unless the professor has clearly stated that the book covers different content than the lecture and that it will be covered on the test, you're better off focusing on your notes (assuming you have been to class).

4 Hide. Study in an out-of-the-way placeHide. Study in an out-of-the-way place. As tempted as you are to study with your friends, you're best bet is to find a place of your own where you can think. Avoid the mass hysteria at the student center and flee from people wanting to borrow your notes.Don't chase an old test. Don't spend the entire night before trying to run down a copy of last year's exam. Even if you do find one, you'll most likely be very disappointed to find that it has little resemblance to this year's test.

5 Stop cramming five minutes before the testStop cramming five minutes before the test. Use this time before the test to relax, catch your breath, and take a minute to get focused. By cramming until the last 30 seconds before you sit down to take the exam, you will more than likely just confuse yourself or walk into a wall trying to read and get to your desk.Read all of the directions carefully. Read through the entire test to see what you are up against. Determine if you will have any time pressure and if it is manageable. Determine where the easy points are. Answer those questions first if you think you may be short on time. This will leave the most time to focus on the harder portions of the exam. If different sections of the exam are weighted differently on the point scale, do not waste all of your time on the 2 point questions when there are heavier-weighted 10 point questions to tackle.

6 Stay calm during the examStay calm during the exam. If at first glance, the test is overwhelming, remember to breathe! Do not panic. If you don't know the answer to a question, move on to the next question and come back later. Remind yourself that you are well prepared, and take the exam one question at a time. You will gain momentum by answering the easy questions first—and you will do better by keeping your head in the game.Ask questions if allowed. If you do, you may find that you gain a great deal of clarity about what the professor is truly getting at with the question. You might even get a feel for the answer the professor is looking for if you listen closely.

7 Stay for the entire sessionStay for the entire session. Reread the questions and your answers to them. Make sure you understand what the question is really asking and that you have answered the question completely and accurately.Remain calm after the exam. Even if you think you did horribly, worrying about it afterwards will not change a thing; it may however, impact how you do on your other finals. Keep your head up and move on to the next exam. Odds are that if you were well prepared for this exam and you did poorly that others also did poorly. If your received a 48% and the professor decided to curve the final, your score could still be a passing grade.

8 Focus on what you hate firstFocus on what you hate first. Study the subjects you either don’t like or are struggling with first. This will help you focus more attention where it is needed. Saving the subjects you enjoy for later makes them more of a reward and relieves the stress of the harder classes. Plus, you tend to do better overall in the classes you like.Make sure you eat! Eating before you study and take tests helps you focus! Certain foods can also help relieve stress. Healthy snacks like fruits and veggies are recommended as stress reducers. Avoid foods with high sugars, grease, junk foods and carbonated drinks as they can aggravate your stressful condition!

9 This PowerPoint was created by Mallory Burns, a junior Resident Assistant at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania. Most of the information for these slides was taken from: